When football fans think of James Milner, one word immediately springs to mind: boring.
It’s not necessarily because the 32-year-old is actually boring – although it’s alleged that he is – but more because of the parody Twitter account that was made in his honour, @BoringMilner.
The account, which is famous for tweeting the driest, most mundane information, has amassed almost 600,000 followers by impersonating Milner.
It was made just for laughs, of course, but when Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp came to learn about the account in 2016, he couldn’t believe people genuinely thought his vice-captain was boring.
According to the German, Milner is actually a “very funny person”.
“I heard [about the @BoringMilner account] once, but it could not be further from the truth,” said Klopp back in December 2016.
“He is a proper English professional. With the humour and – what do you say? – big mouth!
“He is a very funny person. I have no idea where it came from. But perhaps it is about having the same haircut since he was at Leeds!”
A popular subject @BoringMilner regularly tweets about is ironing, like how much he has to do the night before a big game for Liverpool. Here’s a small collection:
Jürgen Klopp said we should all get an early night tonight but Jürgen Klopp doesn't know how big my ironing pile is.
— Boring James Milner (@BoringMilner) October 16, 2016
I've got a mountain of ironing to do but I'm going to live a little and get an early night instead. The ironing will have to wait for once.
— Boring James Milner (@BoringMilner) November 27, 2014
I’m trying to decide how to best prepare for the Man Utd v Liverpool derby tomorrow. What do you guys think?
— Boring James Milner (@BoringMilner) March 9, 2018
It seemed only fitting, then, that as of when Milner finally created his own Twitter account his first tweet would bear some kind of reference to ironing.
Well, it’s finally happened: James Milner is officially on Twitter and what he’s done is absolutely hilarious.
Milner has tweeted a picture of himself ironing a Nike shirt with the caption: “#TBT to yesterday…. when I wasn’t on Twitter!”
#TBT to yesterday…. when I wasn't on Twitter! 👋🏻 pic.twitter.com/TJy4RxHZJx
— James Milner (@JamesMilner) March 22, 2018